Topic:

Radicalization

After the shooting at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, there is a desire to neatly categorize an attack and define why someone would commit such a heinous act. The challenge, however, is that legal terms like “hate crime” and “terrorism” belie a deeper truth: these kinds of actions are instances of homegrown violent extremism.

The proposed Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Act of 2015 (H.R. 2899) could benefit from a bit more study and debate. The bill would create a CVE Office within DHS, filling a hole that should not exist in DHS. It was not always this way.

The House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on what the federal government is doing to counter terrorism; the Committee also passed the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Act of 2015. Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is yet another acronym in the fight against terrorism and perhaps another chance to get it right.

Last week, there was yet another ideologically motivated attack in America, complete with a manifesto and racist, symbol-laden photos posted to the Internet. The shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston is a textbook example of homegrown violent extremism (HVE).

On Wednesday, a shooter entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing 9 people who had gathered for Bible study. The FBI has classified the attack as a “hate crime.” Why has this horrific attack been immediately characterized as a hate crime and not as an act of terrorism?

By Dr. Doron Pely
Those following the evolution and expansion of ISIS over the past few years find themselves often bewildered by the pace and rate of success demonstrated by a supposedly young, inexperienced band of ideologues. Yet, the similarity is uncanny between what is happening now with ISIS and what happened 1,400 years ago, as Mohammad founded Islam and set about consolidating and expanding the power and reach of the new religion.

The United States faces a range of terrorist threats. Foreign terrorist organizations pose a grave threat to U.S. security, but even as we are looking outside American borders, we must not forget the persistent threat from homegrown violent extremism. Security Debrief contributor Dr. Erroll Southers recently gave a TedX Talk on this ongoing threat from domestic terrorism.

Given the growing threat of ISIS recruitment, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate sponsored a field study to reveal the terrorist group’s actions in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. Lead investigators Dr. Erroll Southers and Justin Hienz present the results from their fieldwork in a new study, “Foreign Fighters: Terrorist Recruitment and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Programs in Minneapolis-St. Paul.”

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger recently announced the arrest of six individuals who conspired to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State. There is a persistent recruitment threat in the Somali community in Minnesota. Why is ISIS so effective in recruiting there?

He is the masked face of ISIS, his black-clad figure a harbinger of gruesome murder in a series of videos showing the execution of ISIS hostages. He goes by the alliterative, absurd moniker Jihadi John, but today, the world knows his real name: Mohammed Emwazi.

Security Debrief is a blog dedicated to homeland security, terrorism and counter-terrorism, intelligence and law enforcement that provides context to the debates, policies and politics that are playing out in Washington, D.C.